The UW WOOF (Washington Open Object Fabricators) team submitted their ideas to change the world using 3D printing for the 2012 3D4D Challenge.

The 3D4D Challenge: Relieving Poverty, Encouraging Innovation

“Do you have a transformational idea that could leverage 3D printing technologies to deliver real social benefits in the developing world?

Would you welcome the chance to work with great people to develop your idea further?”

The winning idea will be the one that stands out because:

It clearly and measurably addresses a significant social need e,g, improving the incomes of some of the world’s poorest people or improving access to clean water or energy.It demonstrates real technical innovation. In other words, it brings together leading edge thinking across mobile, web, manufacturing and solar technologies.It clearly demonstrates that there is a sustainable business model that underpins the idea; not simply a reliance on continual donor funding.

They placed as finalists and traveled to London this past week to compete for the grand prize. We cheered as we watched their presentation live in one of our classrooms.

WOOF’s idea “will enable waste plastic to be used as filament for 3D printing machines, to create new products. The winning team, Bethany Weeks, Matthew Rogge and Brandon Bowman, plan to work with US based NGO, Water for Humans (WFH), to address local issues in water and sanitation in Oaxaca, Mexico.”

We are all excited for their return to celebrate their Grand Prize finish! Truly amazing!

Congratulations to our WOOF team with an outstanding start of this school year.